The Speaker

An unnamed, third-person, omniscient speaker narrates “Drummer Hodge.” This unnamed speaker seemingly knows more than any other character in the poem. For example, he is aware of which naturally occurring coordinates – “a kopje-crest” and “foreign constellations” correspond with Hodge’s burial “mound” (3-6). He also knows of Hodge’s origins, “Fresh from his Wessex home,” providing personal details overlooked by the other characters in the poem (8). However, the speaker’s vast knowledge does not translate into the ability to overturn Hodge’s tragic fate. He remains an outsider looking in on the circumstances of Hodge’s death on the battlefield. While the speaker can attempt to humanize Hodge and give some meaning to his death through poetic, eulogistic language, he ultimately cannot counter the “strange-eyed constellations [that] reign / His stars eternally” (17-18).

Drummer Hodge

In many bildungsroman or coming-of-age stories, war narratives, and narratives of personal development...